In the case of Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, it appears that evil comes in the form of international corporations, as another year means another controversy and jump in sales.

Both Urban Outfitters and American Apparel use controversy as a marketing strategy. However, they have crossed the line this past year. With the recent exposure of American Apparel’s offensive CEO, Dov Charney, and Urban Outfitters’ creation of a fake blood-stained Kent State sweatshirt, we shoppers are reminded why we need to stop shoveling money into these two stores.

According to USA Today, Urban Outfitters was under fire in 2003 for selling a Monopoly parody game called Ghettopoly. The racist game portrayed “life in the ghetto” with a black man holding a gun and a “40 bottle.” The cover included such placement pieces: a crack pipe, a marijuana leaf, a pimp, a hoe, a…